Dean Baker. “If economics were like astronomy, the experts in the field would all be calling for the government to spend what is needed to boost growth. But economics is not like astronomy. When [the Reinhart and Rogoff study a] key piece of evidence arguing for austerity was discredited, many experts just doubled down.”

Mayo Toruño‘s insight:

But, unlike astronomy, economics has traditionally served it’s ideological role very well, supplying arguments that have the patina of being "scientific" and are acclaimed as sound and beyond reproach not because they properly explain economic relationships but because they give voice to the dominant ideology. It fulfills its ceremonial function very well …